We are equipped with a number of facilities and services today to adapt ourselves according to the temperature. But, have you ever wondered how the ancient people kept themselves warm during the freezing temperatures?
Well, a recent study published in the journal Antiquity reveals that this was made possible using mysterious structures built up of mammoth bones.
A team of British scientists examined an ancient site in Russia. The excavation revealed that the structure was built with mammoth bones, dated 20,000 years ago. The structure also included reindeer, horse, bear, wolf, red fox and arctic fox bones.
While there are 70 similar structural sites in Ukraine and west Russia, the particular site is deemed to be the oldest. It turned out to be a construction project, described as a 40-foot-wide and circular structure. The construction material included the skulls, skeletons and tusks of more than 60 woolly mammoths. These bones were mostly picked from graveyards.
The site was first excavated in 2014 by Alexander Dudin, a researcher from the Kostenki Museum-Preserve, and his team of scientists. The place is located at Kostenki 11, 300 miles south of Moscow.
Alexander Pryor, an archaeologist at the University of Exeter in England opinionated that the bones were “sourced from somewhere and brought to this particular location” and the example “is really quite staggering.” Pryor is one of the lead researchers of the study.
Mietje Germonpré, an archaeozoologist at the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, called this study a “truly unique discovery.”